This picture received from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 12, 2012 shows the rocket Unha-3, carrying the satellite Kwangmyongsong-3, being monitored on a large screen at a satellite control center in North Korea.

North Korea likely engaged in a deliberate campaign of deception before a December 12 long-range missile launch, catching the United States and its Asian allies "off guard," according to a U.S. official with direct knowledge of analysis of the incident conducted by U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

The official told CNN that American and Japanese military ships and missile defenses were fully operational and protecting land, sea and airspace on December 12, but that the launch was a surprise when it actually happened.

"We had our dukes up, operationally, but we were caught off guard," the official said.

"The clues point to a concerted effort to deceive us," the official said. The analysis was ordered in the wake of the launch to determine what exactly happened and how much the U.S. intelligence knew at the time.
The official said one conclusion was that while missile defenses can fully protect against a North Korean attack, the North Koreans have shown they can counter U.S. measures to gather intelligence about what they are up to.

"Look, they know when our satellites are passing overhead," the official said. It's believed the North Koreans essentially manipulated the launch so U.S. intelligence satellites simply would not be overhead and able to see what was happening.

The most likely scenario, the official said, was that North Korea wasn't telling the truth when it announced several days before the launch that there were technical problems with the missile.

According to the official, the intelligence analysis found that:

- The United States observed the North Koreans beginning to take apart the three-stage rocket and move parts of it away from the launch pad, then observed what were believed to be so-called replacement parts being moved in.

- In retrospect, those parts appear to have been from a second, older-generation long-range missile that were in storage. Those parts most likely were never used in the December 12 launch.

During this time, when the United States did not have total visibility of the launch site, it's believed the North Koreans either quickly reassembled the original rocket and fired it.

- It's also possible the U.S. miscalculated and the North Koreans never took it apart at all.

Earlier this week, South Korean defense officials warned that the latest North Korean missile had the capability to travel more than 6,000 miles, meaning this type of rocket could strike the United States. However, experts do not believe Pyongyang has a nuclear warhead small enough to fly on the kind of missile.

North Korean officials claimed that the rocket launch succeeded in putting a satellite in orbit.

soundoff(658 Responses)

WAKE UP AMERICA! It was Obama of course. He and his muslim friends are handing everything over to the commies and Islamofascists! Remember the "Bin Laden Raid?" Everyone thinks he "ordered" "it" as "part" of the "War on Terror" (really America's "surrender to terrorism") but it was done so he could replace OBL as the head of the Marxist-socialist-fascist world-wide Islam movement. Look how he gave the Chinese the stealth helicopter! Wake up America!!!!!!! I am certain if we put more exclamation marks behind our remarks it will get people to pay attention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know if that thing is up there- or the spaceplane? I'd love to know.. This is gonna sound nuts (I can see the snarky comments being made as I type) But Dec 23rd, I and my g/f saw what looked like for all the world- a nuke detonation in space. The flash, the giant ball of energy, and it fading to a starlike object the size of venus before it went poof. It was around 4:45-5 pm, western sky, we live in Orlando. Reason we agree on a nuke in space: Youtube vieos showing the same type of explosion from some military stuff from the 60's.

So what? I think the West is being hypocritical. Either leave North Korea to do as many countries by owning nuclear. Or the West can lead to way to total disarmament. For the West to keep its inventory of weapons and then have hissy fits whenever other countries try to acquire the same thing is stupid!
My preference is for everyone to totally disarm. And since the West has the most weapons, it should lead this effort.

Disarm is the worst thing we could do. North Korea and their ally China both have incredible large armies. They may not have the technology we do but we don't have the number of ground forces (armies) they have.

I agree. The North Koreans and Iranians should be allowed to have nuclear weapons to protect their own sovereignty. If they have the science, technology, intelligence and funds to do it, I say go ahead and do it. It's called progress. I really don't believe these countries are so bad and evil as the media and our leaders make them out to be. I personally think the United States is the worlds biggest bully and not as holy and blameless as we think it to be.

The problem, Joe, is that all the evience suggests the North Koreans and Iranians will use their nuclear weapons and long-range delivery systems for something other than protecting their sovreignty.

December 28, 2012 at 10:53 am |

David

The issue isn't that we aren't allowing then to have nukes. We just tell them if they want our food and aid, they can't try to get them. N. Korea bold faced told us they were trying to get them. Now their people starve. And that is at the fault of the people running N. Korea, not us. They could easily afford to feed their people is they didn't spend all their money on toys that they can't even get right.

December 28, 2012 at 11:04 am |

mommyagogo

Joe, I think you need to do a little research. Google "Escape From Camp 14" and then tell me that they aren't as bad as we make them out to be. Or this. http://www.northkoreanow.org/the-crisis/north-koreas-gulags/

December 28, 2012 at 11:13 am |

Richard

The cat is already out of the bag, Chuk. The world can't "unlearn" nuclear technology. There are no conditions under which North Korea or Iran will "disarm". I am not worried about the rest of the world.

I completely agree. As long as one giant aggressive country is capable of blowing up everyone on earth, then the world has to accept that other countries have an obligation to their own population to find ways to defend them. Otherwise they are subjugated nations. You want Iran and the DPRK to disarm and stop all nuclear effort? Get the Pentagon to lead the way!

may40, what a terrible loser you are. I've rarely seen such bitterness. It's fun to watch you blame Obama for the fiscal cliff and not even mention your beloved GOP who still refuse to give the people what they voted in favor of. This is coming from someone who didn't vote for Obama either time and remains able to think objectively. Both sides suck. Your side just sucks more.

DStroebel: You wrote that North Korea would never attack anyone. Tell that to the 46 dead South Korean sailors, or the two dead ROK Marines and two dead South Korean civilians killed in the North's artillery bombardment of Yonpyeong Island, both events in 2010. Or do you believe that North Korea has changed in the last year or so? That the new dictator is kinder and gentler?

Damn. A pseudo-country with a non-existent economy and a starving population pulled a fast one on us! And what exactly did they accomplish? And the mental giants of the right are once again manufacturing a "failure" that never occurred, has absolutely no affect on anything, at least on this planet, and changes nothing. Al Queda misses you teatards more than you can ever imagine.

Calm down, Rosslaw. It is in the U.S.'s best interests to be able to predict North Korean missile launches. When we fail to do that it indicates a flaw that we need to correct. You don't have to start calling people "teatards" just because some folks are uncomfortable with an isolated anti-American dictatorship developing nuclear weapons and the capability of hitting Seattle with them.

Actually the best time for NK to have launched was right when the new Black Ops 2 game was released. The entire DoD would have been online playing free for all and would have totally forget about anything else.

North Korea trying to deceive the U.S. and its Allies? What in the world gave you that idea? During the reign of peace under Obama? Unspeakable! Don't you know that Kin Jong Un was educated in Switzerland? Those people wouldn't deceive anyone, would they?

What threat is NK to us? None, zero! Ignore this country, all they want is attention. Give them the attention they seek then suffer the consequences. NK can't do anything without the support of China. China is our problem. Increasingly Russia is a growing problem to all of Europe and Western civilizaton! Putin's Russia is today no different from the "Cold War" with the Soviets. Putin controls Russia, The Chinese government controls China, We are still in a real "Cold War" with both. Europe gives Putin his power, the US gives China its power. We can stop this maddness!

what threat? One nuke in a madman's hands is bad enough. He can get some mindless baffoons to bring it into the US. Now, a madman who can lob ONE nuke via a rocket? Do you think ONE nuke hitting US soil isn't a threat? Would you like it to land where you live? Or upwind of it (see, nukes hitting the ground as they burst cause a lot of radiation. It flows with the wind. It kills, and causes cancer, and devestates the water and land it contaminates. Radioactive fallout last for tens of thousands of years. So, what threat?
He has nothing to lose. They are starving, and if you look at a night satellite image of NK you see nothing. It's dark. There is little to no electricity there. So hit the Americans, get taken out... nothing to lose.
Silly, naive Americans. We have so many!

Maybe StanCalif says it better, but NK is going to be a lot of fun in the years to come. Ignore them? Great idea . . . I wish we could.

December 28, 2012 at 9:42 am |

may40

Couldn't have said it better. And I was told that everyone would love us under Obama. Come on, he was voted in for a second term and all. FOOLS!!!! Hey, btw, enjoy eating the taxes you'll be getting slammed with in 2013. I thought he loved the middle class? Ha!!!!! He sucker punched all of you liberals into thinking he's for the people. He's for himself and his own rich folk. Also, why won't he curb the federal spending and stop growing the government? What a complete disaster he is!!!!

Bitter much? Taxes we're getting 'slammed with' eh? Are you someone who seriously thought the TEMPORARY cuts from the Bush era would be permanent? A country CANNOT sustain growth and expense increases without increasing income levels. It's simple economics. But, for all the talk of small government, talk about reducing military size or levels of control and people on the right blanch.

Hypocrisy on both sides. Welcome to politics. But, then again, admitting there's actually fault in your own party stops you from always pointing the finger at the other guy. Must be hard being you.

December 28, 2012 at 10:01 am |

StanCalif

When will American citizens wake up to the fact that we have no allies??? All of our "friends" simply disappear at their disgression!

American Citizens, pay no heed to gloomy StanCalif. Your allies are in plain site; however, don't expect your allies to blindly follow imbeciles like George W in campaigns of personal vendetta like Iraq on the pretext of imaginary WMDs.

December 28, 2012 at 10:11 am |

citizenUSA

Let's consider all the times we've told North Korea we would not attack them as the deception and send over a couple of ICBM's anyway. Hey, they've made their intentions clear. So what are we to do? Sit around until they DO have nuclear warheads small enough for their missles? If we missed this, I'm not real confident in our missle defense system. I just hope we have something no one knows about.

It is probably because Seal Team 6 deserves the credit. It happened on Obama's watch, but any setting president would have given the orders with enough assurance that his location was known. Oh and I also don't just blame him for our problems. I blame all of Washington. I only blame Obama for using popular opinion or the media to guide his presidency!

tonyw, you have your head so far up your anal canal you wouldn't know where you are for two weeks if you ever managed to get your head free. But, then again you probably like it there.

December 28, 2012 at 9:30 am |

Macroman

Yeah just like any sitting president would have sent US troops into Tora Bora to end a war in under 6 months instead of relenting and causing the longest war in US history. It was his decision, live with it.

December 28, 2012 at 9:32 am |

RapidOne

Just because you want to believe all that you've said doesn't make it true. Limbaugh, Fox News, Beck, O'Reilly, and Hannity have done you a great disservice in making you so asinine that you believe in the 'if you say it, then it's true' mentality. They all, and you as well for your ignorance and stupid1ty, owe this country an apology for what you've done to it.

December 28, 2012 at 10:44 am |

Brian

Who in their right mind thinks North Korea would ever attack the US? Seriously.

It's really not that absurd. Would they attack us first, probably not. The best time to strike us would be when we go over the fiscal cliff and we lose funding to the DoD, Homeland Security, and TSA. Interestingly enough, we are expected to hit the debt ceiling around the end of the year, as well, which means we will default on our loans. Hitting us during a financial breakdown would be an ideal time. However, if an attack didn't happen then, I could see a "Homefront" type scenario happening where we wouldn't be expecting it. Clearly North Korea has timed our satellite movement, so catching us off guard is not impossible.

Obama's plan all along. My gosh you liberals are so foolish to believe this community organizer ever gave a rats butt for this country. His background and his group of "friends" says quite another. He is just loving this whole fiscal cliff garbage. I say we impeach him now!!! Also, who in their right mind has two inaugurations and during a recession no less? One public and one private...wake up America!!!!!!!

December 28, 2012 at 9:54 am |

tonyw

I think this is one of those times when it is not a direct strike we are concerned about but an attack on South Korea and the rest of our allies. Remember, they did set off a Nuclear bomb. It wasn't near as big as expected but seismographs did pick up the explosion. Is this a time to sit back and say, ah, they won't use it? I am not saying go to war, but don't turn your back to them either!

It's a bargaining chip. It will eventually be called "nuclear blackmail" when the right time comes for Kim Jong Un. Right now, we are just letting him build up his offensive nuclear capabilities, so that we can have a "showdown" with him at a later date – kind of like the Cuban Missile Crisis. As for now, the West tends to ignore him and worry about our own problems, which are many. But, he will be back again one day – with the size of a rocket that only his new wife can dream of . . .

You folks don't understand Electro-Magnetic Pulse's. The North will probably never ever launch what to them would be a "full-scale" nuclear strike. But a couple of nuclear warheads placed into orbit as sateliites that then detonate 200-300 miles up would send most of "everyday" United States back into the stone age. The new Red Dawn plot really wasn't all that funny, and is probably more real than people would care to admit.

December 28, 2012 at 9:37 am |

Julio

This just confirmed what I have suspected for so long. Any intelligent analysis will shows that the US with other Asian allies were always responsible for the previous launch failures. The North Korean understood that and secretly conducted this launch so now everyone is crying foul. If you don't get it it is just because you can't be a judge or even hold a neutral position.

DoD making up excuses for failing to be in a position to protect our other allies in southeast Asia and failing to acquire any useful data with their overpriced but unreliable equipment and incompetent personnel...They can't protect this country, their main job is ripping off the taxpayer.

You can thank the gop for those problems. They are the ones that insist on continually buying new gadgets for defense and intelligence even if we don't need them. So, if you are going to spend the money accept the blame.

What does NK owe the US or any other nation? Reverse the roles and the US wouldn't be sharing much either. Does the US share all now? No. When it comes to defense, how could anyone blame any nation for being deceptive?

Disagree...US is no holder of secrets...just about every piece of information that is to be kept on the QT in the US gets let out of the bag by blowhards! US is usually the laughing stock of every coiuntry in the world nowadays!

Well, first off, we give them tons of aid in the form of food and logistics. We're asking them to disarm and relax their dictatorial laws.

And by deceive the DoD is referring to the fact that NK claimed they were disengaging from their satellite and nuclear plans. Was it naive? Sure, but I bet the information the DoD had didn't point to a satellite launch on that day. Also, NK is freaking intelligence black hole. Do you all understand how hard it is to gather intelligence on this country? Would YOU like to be a spy in NK? Would YOU like to be the one responsible for initiating a war with a psychotic regime because a drone was spotted over NK territory? You all need to stop acting like you could run the DoD or CIA better than how it's being run.

So America sits around on its fat, corpulent, lazy, and Obese AZZ and wonders why other countries lie to it? Get REAL...Amierca is full of idiots waiting to get NUKED by a pipsqueak country at that! Goerge Patton where are you???

They're not our enemies, they're just sad and crazy. There is no reason, however, that they shouldn't be allowed to launch satellites into space. Their people are starving but if they want to be nuts and launch satellites we have no moral high ground whatsoever to tell them not to.

well, asking again!,, why would NK want! to launch on the US?,, for what reason?[there isnt one, is there?]..it is a political move, and it may not be NK alone[likely isnt in fact],..do read up on the Korean war, the history, the players, the so called "reasons" etc,..as the song says, at times "paranoia strikes deep, into your! heart it will creep, it starts when your always afraid, step outta line? the man comes and he take you away, its time to stop! children whats that sound, everybody!! look whats going down"..

I believe Obama is wise not to send these paranoid nuts more food (and I don't think Obama is wise about much). Let China and Russia support them. Also if the people are starving hopefully they would migrate in mass to China which is China's biggest fear. This might change things.

Pakistan is a nuclear terrorist country and people of pakistan intelligence agencies are nuclear terrorist because they get born after #$%$ their own mothers be ware of them and tell this to the whole world if you want to save the world .that is why i "love" pakistan

North Korea deceiving US? Why don't we just retask a satellite into a stationary orbit directly over these areas so this won't happen again. I'm pretty sure the NRO has the available funds to do it!..hmmmm

How absolutely RIDICULOUS! I'm guessing this is just a way to make all stupid Americans be ok when we attack them? Dumb article and even dumber writers. WE ARE NOT SHEEP AND WE ARE NOT STUPID. Stop fueling aggression. It's killing children. STOP IT ALREADY YOU SHELLS OF HUMAN BEINGS. And people, don't be so dumb to fall for this crap. It is just that: CRAP and untrue. THIS is a perfect example of WHY AMERICANS ARE SO FREAKING GUN CRAZY AND SCARED. Stop promoting this. Stop believing this BS. BE SMART AND JUDGE SANELY PEOPLE. That is all. xoxoxo

Sandy, please back up your theories, otherwise, they are rants that are just your opinion. This is very serious. North Korea and Iran cant have nuclear weapons. Its as simple as that. More than 5 countries believe that and know this cannot happen to have peace in that region. botton line. Now if you want to talk about conspiracy theories, lets talk fake moon landing or the possible untold truth about 911. Those might be right up your alley......thx

Sandy, relax exhale and remember the HOLOCAUST did happen, STALIN did KILL 20 Million of his own people bodies are still being found in COMBODIA and there are people out there that JUST WANT TO KILL us because OUR LEFT is "OUR" LEFT........ NK needs to create drama in order to justify its existence to its starving people......

How true you are Sandy!
What threat is NK to us? None, zero! Ignore this country, all they want is attention. Give them the attention they seek then suffer the consequences. NK can't do anything without the support of China. China is our problem. Increasingly Russia is a growing problem to all of Europe and Western civilizaton! Putin's Russia is today no different from the "Cold War" with the Soviets. Putin controls Russia, The Chinese government controls China, We are still in a real "Cold War" with both. Europe gives Putin his power, the US gives China its power. We can stop this maddness!

Come on, don't fall for this BS. This country CAUSED any aggression towards us. WE are the violent, aggressive ones, hence other countries being violent towards us and hating us. We act like we rule the world when in fact our country is lower on MANY scales when compared to other countries. THIS IS MORE BS WRITTEN TO PROMOTE OUR AGGRESSION and also to feed the American sheep more fight mentality. DON'T BELIEVE IT!!

Sandy, for the record, Stalin started the Korean War in 1951 to test the resolve of Harry Truman. Had Truman not sent our ill prepared troops in, Stalin had plans to invade Western Europe. After our debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, I doubt that Obama is inclined to deal with North Korea which has the support of China and Russia. Moreover, the likelihood of extensive damage to Seoul in case we attacked is another deterrent.

December 28, 2012 at 8:05 am |

Here's your sign

Take your meds, dear. Really!

December 28, 2012 at 8:31 am |

danny

Sandy, again, about this comment, who uses roadside bombs? Who uses suicide bombers? What countries are riddled with human trafficking, what countries make and ship the worst drugs in the world? You will never see those that say Made In USA.......wow

December 28, 2012 at 8:31 am |

FactChecker

We lived for a long time with thousands of Soviet missiles aimed at us. I guess we can deal with North Korea as long as they understand that we can turn their country into charcoal.

I know what you mean but I think it started back in the fifties. And American ideology is conditioned into thinking like super rich folks. All starts at the top and trickles down to the poor. Thats why we fight wars for them and their interest. We also are led into our everyday thinking,Logical thinking people see the world around them and make no effort to even try believing that there is a problem and when someone shows a logical answer they do nothing and call that person a nut. Try questioning ever quick response to anything.Then trace it to its roots. I think you find that its origins will benefit the super rich and powerful.

hey if your naive enough to believe that a photo-recon satellite cannot be parked in a geo synchronous orbit, just like a gps satellite is... then hey, this is a good story. sounds more like a duping by our own agencies so as not to reveal crucial intelligence gathering methods.... just sayin.

GPS satellites are _not_ in geosynchronous orbits. Recon satellites in geosynchronous orbits would be too far out to be able to see at the level of detail needed, and even if they could, parking the satellite would greatly limit its field of view, so to adequately cover all the global "hot spots" would require enormous numbers of satellites. Believe it or not, the intelligence agencies have to deal with physical reality and technological capabilities, and they do the best they can, but they can't see everything.

Geosynchronous orbits of the earth occur at about 35,000km distance. Do you know what kind of pictures of the earth we could take at that range? Pretty useless ones for intelligence purposes. The reason a GPS satellite can function at that distance is that it only needs to transmit a radio signal in the general direction of earth (that signal must be corrected for time lag and the effects of relativity). To get useful resolution ground pictures, photo-recon satellites must occupy a much closer orbit. But to maintain such a small orbit, they must travel at speeds much faster than the rotation of the earth.

So no, it is not feasible to maintain a photo-recon satellite in geosynchronous orbit. This is not really about technology (though one could imagine a far distant future with some unimaginably powerful and efficient engine where such a task could be possible) but more about basic laws of math, physics, and optics.

You need to learn something about orbital mechanics.
Visual spy satellites are in low orbits, only about 200 miles up so that they can get nice, close, pictures.
GPS satellites orbit at about 12,000 miles and are not geosynchronous,
Geostationary/geosynchronous satellites orbit at 22,300 miles.
Your pictures won't be too good if you're taking them from 22,000 miles(100 times) farther out.

well our country is the one who is striving or implementing world domination.. We are like modern Rome, but nonetheless North Korea is dangerous.. these other countries take offense to our position some reasons valid some aren't so the natural response is to strike back. But N. Korea is up to something.. What idk but they have been on my radar for a long time.. They surely would lose a War but maybe capable of doing some damage before its over.. They need a eye on them surely

North Korea couldn't dominate a donkey. The writer is of the opinion that the North Koreans may have lied? Really?? Another piece of literary genius. The North Koreans never have, never do and never will tell the truth on any matter.

Those stinkers, how dare they not behave like sitting ducks. Everyone knows only the US military and intelligence agencies have the right to deceive the world, because we are the only country trying to save it.

.....the U.S. doesn't speak for the rest of the world, in fact, I really wish they would stop making the West look like selfish crooks.

December 28, 2012 at 3:23 am |

Doc

Im no expert on sarcasm or anything.... but i think you missed his point upon replying

December 28, 2012 at 8:20 am |

o.m.

Well, the fact that NK tried to deceive the US is no surprise.

But that NK actually managed to deceive the US regarding a rather large missile at a known launch site should be worrying. One would think that the various intelligence agencies were watching intently, and if this is the best they could do ... um.

Everything is so secretive about N. Korea. We hardly know anything about their laws, culture and work ethics. For instance, we don't know if the police in N. Korea beat people or kill their citizens because they were holding an ice cream cone in their hands and were shot point blank because they didn't drop the cone. Last year, 767 people were killed by cops in the U.S. We don't know if priests molested thousands of children or that there are football coaches who molested other children. We just don't know these things. We need to know.

Why do we put up with such risky countries? They are disliked world wide, they throw their allies under the bus, play the us, the EU, and the UN as fools, the North Koreans have to long suffered under a corrupt government, Korea has to long been divided, we need to come to an agreement that enough is enough.

To be fair, the USA is also disliked world wide, throw their allies under the bus, play the world and its people for fools, and Americans have too long suffered under a corrupt government where bribery of government officials by the wealthy and corporations is legalized as "lobbying" and "campaign finance", and made a central aspect of our sham democracy.

Don't get me wrong, I realise this, we have bullied the world for quite a while now, forced Europe to give up its colonial possessions in the sixties and seventies leaving Europe to economically suffer and decline, messed up the Middle East, and assassinated many officials in the Cold War, but North Korea is a mess that shouldn't be ignored.

December 28, 2012 at 2:45 am |

Schmedley

yeah, but we write big checks to them while we're throwing them under the bus... Money always cushions the blow...

December 28, 2012 at 3:10 am |

Pwnasaurus

To: "How Convenient" (Government Shill)

Anyone who tells another American to leave just because they call out our corrupted, criminal government is a traitor. They should be strung up in the trees. I'm tired of the "love it or leave it" cop out. How about you and your government leave. You can also take your fiat currency, fiat debt, and war-mongering bankers with you.

December 28, 2012 at 4:04 am |

Alfred Hussein Neuman

And when you leave, take the moochers who produce nothing of value with you. Too many parasites sitting around demanding other people's money and too many politicians willing to seize it and give it to them.

December 28, 2012 at 8:08 am |

Schmedley

No one is blind to what N Korea is, but what do you propose we do about it?

If we try to force their collapse, they'll have nothing to lose by lobbing a couple hundred artillery shells into downtown Seoul. They'll have no qualms about killing a couple hundred thousand S Koreans on their way down the drain.

China will do nothing because even though they think N Korea is a pain in the a$$, they are a buffer against having a staunch US ally that has US troops on station right on their borders. How would you feel if Mexico had 20,000 Chinese troops stationed right over the border?

N Korea will be around for a long time because they are in the ultimate stalemate position. No one wants to do anything because a war would be extremely destructive to the region even though everyone knows N Korea would never win. They don't have to win, they just have to kill a lot of people and destroy a lot of factories on their way down.

Diplomacy should always be first but stop wasting time with this country. They will never change, and we can't afford to get nukes into the wrong hand so we need to take some clandestine operations to take out these crooks.

It won't be as simple as sending Navy Death Squad Six in to execute Kim Jong Un and anyone who happen to be in his vicinity at the time of the raid. Don't confuse the realities of international relations with the ultraviolent wet dream you had last night.

Okaaaayy....So this article tells us that the U.S. got deceived, that our intelligence was completely wrong, but then the article ends by telling us not to worry, even though the missile can hit the mainland U.S., they don't have a small enough nuclear weapon to load onto it. Not very reassuring.

Yeah, because *everybody* _knows_ that North Korea is just itchen to nuke the US. I'm pretty sure that has been their number one priority since the bronze age. Hell, just last week they went on international television and said "Death to America! Soon, we will turn your cities to glass with our thousands of intercontinental balistic nuclear missiles!" We have gotta stop 'em now!

...er...ok...I may have made that last part up...but I'm sure there are a surprising number of Americans who would totally believe that... *sigh*... sad, really. 😦

I'm not worried too much about them, I was mostly just commenting on how poorly our intelligence failed to see that this launch was going to happen when it did and as successfully as it did, that, and the irony of the article reassuring us that they know they don't possess any nuclear warheads small enough to mount on the rocket. Still, North Korea bears watching, even if they are mostly just supreme saber rattlers.

December 28, 2012 at 3:00 am |

cactus

I wonder if N Korea would sell a nuke to some terrorist country like Iran or even to Al Queda? They could then put it on some ship that was coming to America, maybe NYC and set it off in the harbor. Would N. Korea do it if a lot of money was involved? Naw, they wouldn't do something like that, would they?

Shame on them for deceiving us. For shame, for shame. They treated us like the saps we are. I think we should have some congressional hearing on the matter and call in all the top brass in the CIA and rake them over the coals. Think of all the camera time congress could get.

Doesn't matter really does it? Iran is a signature to the NPT and we have zero evidence that it is in violation of that treaty. Iran has total rights to develop nuclear energy include the enrichment. Perhaps the world should be more worried about Israel who does have nuclear weapons and is has not signed the NPT.

Isn't this the same crap Russia & the US pulled on one another and the world during the cold war days, and isn't this very same deception going on every day and night at Area 51 by the US military and the very same coverup concerning the UFO crash at Roswell New Mexico. Jump off the Moral High ground US, you got no more right to be up there than any other country.

The UN? Now that's a laugh. An organization essentially run by the west in the interests of the west. It wasn't hard to get a resolution against NKorea, we simply had to bribe enough countries. Oh, and why should NKorea pay any attention to UN resolutios when it's ok for Israel to ignore them with impunity.

December 28, 2012 at 3:44 am |

Winston Wolf

damn......even I knew that could be coming. Great Leader day the 17th(?) and I figured they might
set the bottle rocket off early.

Credable threat? Really? The only thing happening is that the threat of US + Allies attacking NK will (has?) gone down...you know, that whole "mutually assured destruction" thing. North Korea may be ruled by egomaniacs, but at least they aren't *religious* egomaniacs. NK without nukes that can reach the US = a "viable target if needed"...NK *with* nukes that can reach the US = "a country we need to deal with diplomatically".

Trace damage back to source? There'd be no one left to do the investigation. I think any nuke launched on a missile will almost certainly spark the THIRD one and no one will be happy to survive that one.

Let me educate you guys a bit about NK. They are NOT a threat to the US. Get this absurd idea out of your heads. The US government wants you to believe that it, like Iran, is truly a threat to the US. Even Iran is merely a slight threat to Israel, NOT in any way to the US. So it's entirely in the interest of Israel that the US keeps showing her fangs to Iran. NK is NOT a threat to Israel either. So, why all the hullabaloo about NK, then, you might ask. The West and Israel (JudaeoChristian world government system) don't want to be seen as anti-Muslim bigots, which they ARE, so they have to have another imagined foe to sound fair to the lay goy public. Imagine if this NK action had been done by Iran or an Arab country. Actions sometimes speak a bit louder than words.

Well, you may be right about Iran, but the involvement with NK could be because scaring people of the peril of NK justifies keeping troops in South Korea and hence, any funding associated with it. The opportunity to have troops and a base right next to China is priceless.

So, what you are saying is that NK fooled the U.S. and its allies on the launch, but could not possibly soon have a nuke small enough to deliver? Oh, and we'd never wonder why 4 planes somehow disappeared from our skies 11 years ago and not be completely bewildered as 3 of them crash into buildings? You must be a military analyst.

So what if they end up having a couple nukes that could hit the US? So what if they had 100...or 1,000. It doesn't matter. Do you *honestly* think China would 'let' NK nuke the US? Do you really think NK would even consider a 'first strike' against an OBVIOUSLY superior foe? Especially when their closest ally (China) would disown them in a heartbeat?

As I said in an earlier post; the only thing that NK getting 'usable nukes' is that it gives them a more level playing field with the countries that have nukes. Y'know, that whole "Walk softly and carry a big stick" kinda thing.

No...let me educate you. NK is a threat to U.S. allies and world peace in general. They actively support terrorism and continue to fund a military threat while millions starve to death throughout the country. And this comes from several peace organizations, including Amnesty International and the international Red Cross. But keep sticking your head in the sand while drinking the kool-aid of the ignorant.

Iran and North Korea are mostly threats to their neighbors, for now, but we always get dragged in kicking and screaming to these wars after they get out of control. If they would kill their own people and neighbors, they would not hesitate to kill us too.

DID YOU JUST SERIOUSLY COMPARED NORTH KOREA TO NAZI GERMANY? NORTH KOREA CAN'T EVEN CONQUER SOUTH KOREA!

December 28, 2012 at 3:39 am |

FayKname

"The official said one conclusion was that while missile defenses can fully protect against a North Korean attack, ..."

Fully? As in a 100% success rate? That's a big Negative anonymous 'U.S. official with direct knowledge'.

No missile defense system is 100% effective, most are nowhere close. Most are a huge waste of money starting way back in 1984 with Star Wars which in it's 29 years has gone through many renames, had billions after billions pumped into it and still has relatively nothing to show for it.

Falacious reasoning. The fact that morst developed democracies are strongly against the militarization of space and have politically moved to prevent the starwars program, has nothing to do with its technical effectiveness.

What NK did was not deception rather a smart move! Theoritically, NK is at war with SK plus USA so in a war every trickery is allowed in order to win the war. I am sure US and other countries will do the same in a similar war-like situations. I believe the US is quite embarrassed by not knowing what NK did......so there is a lesson for every one even to a super power like USA...."Never undersetimate your enemy"

May I say that there's no any greater in war.. Let's try to go back what Hitlers did..What happened to him to the last? Its is not obvious if one country hit the other and destroyed about ten percent.. of course it will retaliate to destroy more than that.. and so on...so this is just a foolishness.

May I say that there's no any greater in war.. Let's try to go back what Hitlers did..What happened to him to the last? Its is not obvious if one country hit the other and destroyed about ten percent.. of course it will retaliate to destroy more than that.. and so on...so this is just a foolishness. may I continue, the North Korea must think a hundred times before they continue what they're dong, because to me they can hurt but they can not win.

Kim is the family name also known as the last name to the uninformed as well as the informed.

December 28, 2012 at 12:24 am |

Rogue351

Speculation, nothing more. What exactly is United States intel suppose to say. Should they explain in detail what they knew, when they knew it and how they knew it just because the "people" want to know. Don't be ridiculous. Not every single detail of how the USA intelligent community works, what they know or don't know should be on the internet. Like it or not there are some things that still need to be kept secret.

And exactly how many governments around the world telegraph there every move prior to making it ? How many let people know exactly what is going on, while it is going on. Tell me the Republicans did so much better while they held the office of president. Yes, the world loved the USA while the GOP had power. Ha Ha Remind me again who was president when 911 happened ? If anything, the opinion of the USA has improved dramatically over the last 4 years.

I've had the opportunity to live all over the world and I must say that there is no better place in the world than the US of A. Furthermore if we are so hated than why has visa requests doubled each year for the past 10 years. Think about that the next time you line-up to pay your TV tax and your 12 dollar per gallon gas. I'd rather be poor in America than rich any where else in the world.

NK fooled the U.S. so they could not use "Star Wars" to knock down their missile again. Do you guys ever think for yourselves or cnn the only "programming" you view? Why would NK go through this elaborate deception to launch a missile?

Why can't all your comment forums be like this one rather than have to post comments after registering and giving you so much info like practically stripping down to the underwear. Keep speech free. Down with censorship. Some of us are privacy freaks.

The Arab Spring? Replacing one dictator with another isn't exactly revolutionary. Hell in the U.S. almost half the nation tried to re-elect Romney as the new Bush. And that was after in 2010 a lot of voters ran back to their abusive daddy types and went full Tea Party. Hey, but many Russians longed for Stalin in the 90s too. Standing on one's hind legs for a moment may be brave, but often in the end it is just a fleeting bit of entertainment.

... which one is our real ally. Point to ponder. Don't count on the South. There's a sort of Arab Spring waiting to happen in South K, where the people HATE the US, but can't do anything because the US thru its secret world govt. doesn't let a people's leader emerge. But it could be a matter of time for the South to become a more formidable enemy far harder to deal with with all its techno knowhow.

Find out more about Freemasonry and its chldren: Bohemian Club; Bilderberg; Skull and Bones and other "conspiracies". It is believed that the US and many Western European Governments are made by freemasons, which they denied b4 but some of them now proudly proclaim. They may be conspiracies, but some things said about them make sense. Check out chief conspirator Alex Jones' shows, which, even if not true, are entertaining, nevertheless.

It's a sort of racism to think that we can never be fooled. If we have made a living out of fooling others – CIA, NSA, MIA, FBI, etc., why can't others, at least once in a while. To think that they can't means you thinkothers/races are dumb.

You OBVIOUSLY forgot it was the "fool" Obama that finally got Osama Bin Laden. Why the hell do idiots like you so quickly forget who did what? Or are you an Al Qaeda sympathizer. I bet that's what it is...you WANTED 9-11 to happen! What are you, a Muslim extremist? Yeah. you are.

Your the fool buddy. You know nothing. It was Bush who put the means to find Usama not Obama. You really shouldn't be so ignorant and do your homework before you speak you dumb fool!!

December 27, 2012 at 10:55 pm |

Tom

@GreekGuy9999. Are you insane? Obama didn't "get" anyone. Our special forces did that dirty job while the Pres was sitting in a nice warm and safe White House. He and other Presidents are about as responsible for military outcomes as the White House Press Secretary, Give credit where it is due.

By your logic, he would them be responsible for the Libyan Ambassador's death.

December 27, 2012 at 10:56 pm |

Painful

One Christian "extremist" bit the dust today – us under storms as he was stormin' his way into the dust..

December 27, 2012 at 11:00 pm |

jj

tom, I sure if W had given the order, you'd sing his praises...but our guy did so bite me.

December 27, 2012 at 11:17 pm |

fandancy

Tom

He gave the order and don't tell me anyone else would have done. He went against the advise of many of his advisors and risked his presidency by giving that order. There was only a 50-50 chance that it was even bin Ladin in the compound. At least give credit where credits due.
Personally, if I had been president I would have sent a few drones to do the job. Not much political risk doing it that way but his way worked out great.
Obama – 1
bin Ladin – 0

December 27, 2012 at 11:25 pm |

Obamaite

I like a lot of what obama did, but not so proud of him for "getting" an unarmed old man not relevant any more. He could have got him tried and maybe got more info as well, while being seen as a kinder person by even enemies, opening the possibility of a truce sooner than later. I wish Carter could be president instead of Reagan, where all this war-mongering stupidity changed gears.

December 27, 2012 at 11:40 pm |

cactus

Apparently none of you guys can read. It wasn't your man who gave the order to kill Osama, it was my wo man, Hillary. Cnn even posted it when it finally came out. Obama was on the gold course. Some wanted to call him and ask permission but he had said no for three months straight. Hillary strongarmed Panetta and gave the military the go. They didn't tell Obama until after the choppers were already in Pakistan air space. Hillary was the heroine, you do her an injustice by not giving her the credit she deserves.

December 28, 2012 at 3:52 am |

Abe Lincoln

Once I said, "You can fool some people all the time; you can fool all the people some of the times; but you cannot fool all the people all the time".

Point to ponder America,If the Government works for the people? Why do we continue to let them run this country in the ground? If you own a hamburger business,someone doesn't do their job.You don't give them a pat on the back and tell them do better next time.Do you? We the people need to take control of our country.Quit letting these people run wild.Start from the top and hire some new people.President,Vice President,secretary of State,Congress,House,Etc.If you don't do your job.You're gone!

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod..., 'Obama' didn't know exactly what was happening inside of a secretive, closed off dictatorship that's soooo shrimpy no one's been able to get rid of it in the last six decades!? Why wasn't he there watching em from the hills personally as he should have been, what kind of reckless leader depends on the long in place intelligence apparatus!?

Cleaaarly 'Obama' and his rabble of barely functioning thralls – let's be honest only Republicans are fit to rule, clearly a Democrat being elected is a self-evident fraud – aren't fit to tie their own shoe laces never mind run a country. Such egregious negligence should see the whole shower of incompetents hurled into chokey for the rest of their lives eh? Bang em up and place some good, level headed bred for government Republicans amIright!?

Have you been drinking or were you just not troubled by whole mess of schooling?

True, but we're talking private civilian satellites there. But, as PB keenly points out that GEO orbit is ~25k miles above earth, so I guess that probably is out of the military realm as well. However, one would think with all the multiple billion dollar heavy lift Atlas and Delta launches that the military puts up every year should be able to handle this issue. Maybe not...

c'mon, how gullible are you all? As many people have pointed out, if google can see what you are wearing, the US military can continuously watch for a missile launch. The is obvious misinformation sent from the military for the benefit of the N Koreans. It's always best to shout as broadly as possible how little intelligence gathering capability you have.

The US certainly knew the moment the missle was launched. We have missle launch detection satellites for this very purpose. The point of the article is that we didn't know *before* the missle was launched.

These tools here actualy blame Obama and his staff?? Right, because when a president is elected he then completely overhauls the entire military, intelligence and the CIA, and all the staff and all their equipment. Right. You fools ever listen to yourselves??

Oh then who's fault is it? Or is it no ones fault when it happens on the Obama Administration watch. Maybe you and your party of choice should take your own advice because you guys have spent the better part of a decade blaming Bush over the lack of WMD inside of Iraq, but according to you that really wasn't his fault because "The President doesn't completely overhaul the entire military, intelligence and the CIA, and all the staff and all their equipment"! Liberals are the biggest political hippocrates, its like you guys make the rules up as you go.

ATUL: We Americans have been deceived for the last 4 years and after the FATHERLESS Nigerian leaves office with ALL HIS BENEFITS and our money, he will be laughing at us all the way to the bank – DAILY!!!

You sound like a very sane, cool, calm and collected individual. Your astounding display of logic is truly remarkable. The creativity and original thought you convey in all your comments further illustrates you are a person who clearly knows what he is talking about. Everybody, listen to Ed. He is a very smart person.

/s

December 27, 2012 at 9:56 pm |

Amit

Ed, good news for you: racism is now curable, and Obamacare covers it!

December 27, 2012 at 10:11 pm |

brad

Nigeria?? Ed is what we like to call an idiot....Its Kenya, you dumb racist.

December 27, 2012 at 10:19 pm |

Premal D.Shah

Where does the Obama issue come in Atul? I am an Indian too and what you are saying will make Americans think that all Indians are crazy like you. Please see the topic properly and reply appropriately. There is no such thing as "slot-machine" mentality when it comes to putting a comment up on CNN!

2"!? You're referring, of course, to when he has a stiffie! It is inconceivable to me that anyone would take orders from this idiot (or from his father, or from his grandfather). Why doesn't some military guy knock him off and take control of the country?

C'mon now, this "official" really doesn't think the US with the most technologically advanced space-based military reconnaissance systems doesn't have a geosynchronous satellite that can focus its hi-res camera on a rocket launch? If Google maps can see my dog in my driveway, I think the US military should be fully capable of spying on North Korea.

i find it hard to believe this is now a surprise some how when cnn as running with the prelaunch stories several days before the launch. they have a right to have satellites in space, the only sad part is the number of people who go hungry and cold in NK while money is being spent on such things. but i suppose people go hungry and cold here while the president was spending 4 million on a vacation. people also go hungry and cold while we spend money of FAKE WARS!

I'm not sure why you're tossing around unpatriotic here...are you perhaps sore that a certain Kenyan Marxist Fascist Muslim won the election again? He wasn't even born here, was he. Ah well, he did a great job of deceiving me and everyone else who voted for him. I guess I should prepare for the plot to the new Red Dawn remake to happen any day now, eh?

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CNN's Security Clearance examines national and global security, terrorism and intelligence, as well as the economic, military, political and diplomatic effects of it around the globe, with contributions from CNN's national security team in Washington and CNN journalists around the world.